Dark City
Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Eldritch Abominations, Demons, Mad Scientists, Evil Aliens, they all exist. They all threaten. For centuries, they lingered in the dark, waiting. Now, they have risen. The masquerade has broken, and humanity is doomed.... OR ARE THEY!!! For with the evil rising, so has the good. Rogue Vampires who quest for redemption, Sentient Zombies seeking life, Eldritch Abominations who seek the thrill of being good, these superpowerful beings have cast off their cloak of darkness, and have sworn to uphold the ideals of Truth, Justice, and the American way! These individuals can only be called.... SUPERHEROES! Using their unholy powers, their undead might, their savage speed, their dastardly intellect, and their fel magic, they seek to protect us from the vile armies they were once apart of ! For when something goes bump in the night, you can be assured that somewhere, a Superhero is bumping back! And you, lucky citizen, are one such hero! Having decided to cast of your chains, you now serve the forces of good, whether you be a soul sucking Vampire, a brain eating Zombie, a Mad Scientist seeking to serve your fellow man, you are now by all intents and purposes, a hero, fighting off vile scourges such as the vile necromancers known as the Followers of Nyx, the horrid abominations known as the Outer Kind, the power hungry alien race, The Zcars, and more! Upon becoming a Superhero, The greatest superhero organization in the world, The Death Corps, sent you this codex to explain the ins and outs of crime fighting! Now, get out their, and save the world, you freakish horrors you! Premisis Dark City takes place in an unnamed city. All of your PC's are various monsters who have decided to don a costume and fight crime. Mixing elements of Superhero Comics and Horror Genres, many of the 'Supervillains' of Dark City are the kind of antagonist you would find in a horror movie or book, while the Superhero's are a mix between what you would find in a comic and what you would find in a Stephen King book. Character Creation To determin which race, class, and stats you recieve, you shall roll some dice. For example, for race, you roll a six sided die. If you roll a three, you're character is a Zombie. Dice Chart Race Roll a six sided die. 1. Vampire- 'Legends differ on our origins. The most common one states that our progentitors were humans who survived the Great Biblical Flood by making a deal with a Dark Titan, who protected them from the waters, at a cost. The survivors were supposed to, one year after the flood, give a sacrifice of grain and livestock to the creature. Which, had their not been a plauge, they would have. Begging the Dark Titan for leniency, the Titan offered them a new deal: Five of the village would be subject to a curse, a horrible curse that caused the sun to burn and a thirst for blood, and carrying their curse in their bite.. Taking the deal, five of the villagers were transformed into the precursors of the modern Vampires. As with all things, the curse, over the years, changed, altered. Evolved. Now, modern vampires are fundamentally different that the ancient ones.'-Kredak Valkros, A Genealogy of The Vampire Race RACE BONUSES: +3 to SPD, POW, and CHR. Starts with the abilities Charm 1, Drain 2, and Fade 1, regardless of Class. Loses 5 DUR and 2 INT in Sunlight, and loses all racial stat bonuses if the PC has not drank blood in two game days. 2. Werewolf- 'At Ragna-Rok was Fenris, the mighty wolf unleashed. Unfettered, the beast fough the God-King Odin and his chosen, and slew the God-King, and wounded his chosen. However, this was a phyrric victory for Fenris, who was mortally wounded, and laid dying. The wounded Einherjar and Valkyries who had fought alongside Odin then, for five days and five nights, used Fenris's blood to keep them alive. Meanwhile, the battle raged around them, eventually reaching a standstill once every God and Monster was either dead or exiled into the dark lands. Only Fenris and the Chosen were left. Bitter about their failure to die in battle, they struck up a truce. However, those who had drank the blood of Fenris soon learned, the price for survival. Tainted they were, unable to enter Valhalla, trapped upon Midgard. For at every full moon, they would transform into a terrifying monster, neither wolf, nor man, but some twisted mix. Even their bite was cursed, changing normal men into one of their own. These were the first werewulfen. Knowing that they would never again fit into human society, they hid at the outskirts of civilization, slowly mastering their abilities. Then, they heard of these 'Superheroes'. If such monsters as the Undead, Wizards, and Outer Ones could become heroes, what stopped them? Many such of my kin then dedicated their life to these strange concepts known as 'Heroism'.'-Valkyrie Greta, A Call To Heroics. RACE BONUSES: +1 STR and SPD in Human Form. +5 STR and 7 SPD in Wolfen Form. -9 INT and SPI in Wolf Form. Starts with the abilities Shapechange 1, Chilling Roar 1, Regen 2, and Berzerk 1 regardless of class. 3. Zombie - 'They walk among us, the undead. Flesh eating, brain devouring creatures who have beaten off the reapers hold. Whether raised through Necromancy, Dark Science, or a vile Disease, these beings have no fear, no doubt, no fetters. They are unstopable. Most are mindless, flesheating monsters who lack even the barest trace of sentience. However, a few have managed to retain their mind. Beware these sentient one's, for they frequently use their terrible gifts for taking revenge upon the living. A rare few dedicate their lives to Heroism, but you should be wary even of these, for they will not hesitate to devour those they find guilty.'- MArcus Brax, Zombie Information Pamphlet. RACE BONUSES: -2 Skill Points to increase a stat, Starts out with the ability Infectious Bite 1, Reanimate 2, and Invuln 1. Has no CHR stat. If rolling for CHR, assume it is 10. 4. Eldritch Abomination- 'We are not your friendly, neighborhood Cthulhu....We are not your Wise, Kind Nyarlahothep....We are the Outer Ones. We are power. But most of all, We are bored. Yes, Bored. Why else would we play hero amongst you insignificant ants? For some greater plan? You jest. Our kind has no plans, we have no morals, all we have is an eternall boredom that must be sated. That is the reason we became Superheroes, discarding much of our power. Their is no such thing as 'Justice' and good does not win in the end.....Or so I thought. For, after twenty years of fighting this thing you call 'Evil', I slowly came to the realization that I BELIEVED in that 'Heroism' nonsense. Yes, I Chthogas, Outer One, Dark Flyer, Lord of the Abyssal Plains, began to believe in something that was not myself. This....phenomina...affected not only myself, but many other of my kind. I theorize that existing on this plain of existence.....corrupts us. YOU corrupt us. As such, I think it would be prudent to leave but.......I cannot bring myself to do so. The call of heroism is too strong. Forever I shall remain on this putrid planet, fighting off scum Outer One style!'- Chthogas, Memoirs of an Old One.RACE BONUSES: +3 to INT, + 4 to POW. Starts with the abilities Mind Rape 3, and Tentacle Smash 1 5. Mad Scientist- 'Mad, you say? Hmmmm. Mad.....Mad.......Mad!.....Mad!?....MAD!?!? MAAD!?!? I'LL SHOW YOU WHO IS MAD! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FOR SCIENCE, JUSTICE, AND ENLIGTENMENT! EHEHEHEHEHEHEHehehehehehe.......*Clears Throat* Sorry about that. Force of habit, that. Anyways, whats it like to be a mad scientist, you ask? Well, not bad, really, after all, next to Vampires, we get the best publicity. Ask any child what he wants to be when he grows up, he'll either tell you 'Rock Star' or 'Mad Scientist'. Ask them who their role models are, chances are you'll find a 'Nikola Tesla', 'Marie Curie' or a 'Doktor Stein' in their somewhere. Thats because, amongst all the kinds of Superheroes, we improve daily lives as well as fighting crime. However, before you think we are all benevolent, I should remind you, many call themselves 'Mad Scientists' while performing unethical, vile, EVIL experiments on unconsenting fully awake civilians who have not commited any deserving crime. These are NOT Mad Scientists. They are BAD Scientists! And wherever they hide, whatever they do, they WILL be brought to justice! They WILL be punished! They WILL die for their crimes!'- Doc Jekyl, PHD, The Mad Science Show. RACE BONUSES: +5 to INT. starts with one of the following: Miniturize 5, Death Ray 5, Healing Nanos 5, or Mind Control 5 6. Marionette- 'This thing on? Yes? M'kay. The following is an indepth report on these 'Marionette' creatures. First, psych profile. Due to the nature of their existence, they tend to display childish behavior juxtoposed next to a rather psychotictendency toward violence. As per usual, these traits are the most common, not the sole ones. For a more indepth psycological analysis, turn to appendix M1. Appearance-wise, they are always puppets of somesort, with rather glowy eyes. Said eyes have colors ranging from Green, Black(?), Red, and Purple. Limbs seem to be elongated and thing. Indeed, their whole body is rather gangly. Teeth and mouth vary quite a bit. It is not uncommon to see a Marrionette with Drill-bit teeth that rotate at high speeds. We haven't determined a single origin yet, but the boys down in Demonology have come up with one possible explanation for their existence. They believe that at one point in time, the minds that animate the Marrionettes bodies(I hesitate to say soul, due to the obvious implications) were once children who were brutally murdered in a demonic ritual, thus 'tainting' their minds. Said minds, due to their manner of death, could not leave this world. They then possessed the 'Marrionette Body', which we believe has to be cursed before it can be possessed. Combat wise, they. are. fast. They put the Vamps to shame.'- Unidentified Researcher, Marrionette Study Files